Glover, Riley share day one honours at Medinah
IN: News | US PGA | US PGA Championship (2006) | Round One | by Bruce Young | 18 Aug 2006
As darkness fell on day one of the 2006 USPGA Championship, close to sixty players had completed their first round under par but even allowing for the low scoring there would be few prepared to suggest the course was not providing a great examination.
Perfect conditions prevailed all day and even though a breeze increased a little in the middle of the afternoon, the scoring reflected a day perfect for good scoring and this quality field did not let anyone down.
Lucas Glover was out at 8.00am on day one and when he completed his round not long before 1.00pm with a six under par 66, he had a lead which would still be his six hours later. He was headed at one stage by Davis Love and was joined late in the day by Chris Riley but Glover had much of the limelight on day one.
Glover is into his third year on the PGA Tour and just keeps getting better and better. The 26 year old joined the PGA Tour in 2004 after graduating via the Nationwide Tour and although he was forced to return to the Tour School that year he regained his card and the rest, as they say, is history. He won the Funai Classic in 2005 and although he has not won in 2006 to this point, there have been some very impressive weeks.
Riley on the other hand has battled through the last eighteen months on tour and has retained his status only because he is a Ryder Cup Team member from 2004. Riley played late today and so in that respect, his was perhaps the more impressive effort.
The man who will be ruing a late disaster however is Davis Love who appeared to be in for something very special when he raced to six under par through seven holes. He knocked it stiff at the first, holed from ten feet at the second, four feet at the fourth, then laid up at the par five only to knock his approach to two feet and then at the par five seventh, he holed an eagle putt from 16 feet. He then shared the lead with Glover.
Love birdied the 10th to move ahead at seven under then bogeyed the 11th but when he again laid up at the 14th and hit his third to close range he was back to seven under and once again alone in the lead. As he stood on the tee at the par three 17th, which is clearly a tough proposition at any time never mind in a major championship, he was still one head.
Ten minutes later however he would walk from that green wondering what had hit him. A pulled tee shot left him beyond the bunker and with a horror lie and water beyond the flag he left his second in virtually the same place. Now he faced that same shot over again. This time he moved it but only into the bunker alongside and when he blasted to twelve feet and missed that, he walked from the tee with a triple bogey and has fallen two behind Glover.
At five under and just one back are Stewart Cink and Billy Andrade, the latter of whom is here because of a late call up in fact he was originally seventh alternate. Cink has been playing well of late and that he has done so well on this style of golf course is no real surprise.
Those at four under include Australian Robert Allenby, who has been in solid form in recent months. Allenby expressed his disappointment after the event that he was unable to finish off a couple of opportunities late in his round but that aside he is pleased with his opening 68.
The next best of the Australians was Geoff Ogilvy who, like Love, fell victim to the dangerous 17th. That however was his 8th hole on day one, having started from the 10th, and he had time to recover. He did just that and by the time he walked from the 9th green (his 18th) he had worked his way back to share three under with his playing partners Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. It was an impressive comeback especially under the spotlight he was exposed to.
The Australasians at two under are Peter Lonard, Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley and Stuart Appleby. Appleby appeared a chance to challenge the leaders when he moved to five under through fourteen holes but he struggled in from there dropping three shots in the next four holes and is at two under.
Nathan Green did well to recover form an outward nine of 38 to record a one under 71 and shares that score with two other Australians including Adam Scott and Rod Pampling and a host of others at one under.
With similar weather on day two even par is looking like a possible cut mark.
Photo - Anthony Powter
